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- Two people were killed and several people were injured in a blast after a grenade exploded in a bar in Burundi's capital, Gitega.
- According to an anonymous source, the bar is run by a police officer and frequented by officials and members of the ruling party.
- The RED-Tabara rebel group claimed responsibility, but government and official media were instructed not to refer to them directly.
Nairobi – At least two people were killed and a number of others were wounded when a grenade exploded in a bar in Burundi's capital Gitega on Sunday evening, a police source said.
The blast occurred a day after a series of mortar shells were fired at the airport in the economic hub of Bujumbura in an attack claimed by a rebel group.
A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity:
A
police officer said the blast killed two people on the spot, while eight people
were being treated in medical facilities in Gitega.
The attack was confirmed to AFP by two witnesses, who said that many people were injured.
Late on Saturday, the airport came under attack a day before President Evariste Ndayishimiye was due to fly out for the UN General Assembly in New York, without causing any victims or damage.
'Enemies of peace'
The RED-Tabara rebel group, which is accused of being behind many deadly attacks or ambushes across the country since 2015, claimed responsibility in a statement on Twitter.
No Burundian official wanted to comment publicly on the latest incidents and official media was also instructed not to refer to them.
A senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity:
"But
they will not go far because the situation is under control."
RED-Tabara, which has its rear base in South Kivu in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, emerged 10 years ago and is now the most active of Burundi's rebel groups.
In 2020, it claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in which it said more than 40 people were killed among security forces and the youth league of the ruling CNDD-FDD party.
The Burundian government and many diplomats believed at the time that the rebel group, which has between 500 and 800 men, was led by one of the fiercest opponents of the state, Alexis Sinduhije, which he has always denied.
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